Artists

Leaflet advertising a benefit concert for SACTU (South African Congress of Trade Unions) in 1987. The concert featured jazz and blues saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith and his Electric Dream ensemble, and Julian Bahula.

Members of the Royal Shakespeare Company joined protests against the invitation to the South African Embassy to take part in the annual Shakespeare birthday celebrations at Stratford in April 1987. Fifty countries pulled out after the organisers refused to withdraw the invitation to South Africa.

Police arrest a protester at a demonstration against the invitation to the South African Embassy to take part in the annual Shakespeare birthday celebrations at Stratford in April 1987. Members of the Royal Shakespeare Company joined the protests. Fifty countries pulled out after the organisers refused to withdraw the invitation to South Africa.

The Peterborough Against Apartheid festival held in May 1987 featured British folk punk group ‘The Men they Couldn’t Hang’ and singer songwriter Rory McCloud, as well as stalls and speakers from the ANC and SWAPO. Over 1,000 people attended the festival, one of the most successful events ever held in the city. 

Poster for a folk concert to raise funds for the ANC and Nottingham Anti-Apartheid at Nottingham’s Trent Polytechnic Students Union in 1987.

Leaflet advertising an evening of poetry and music to raise funds for the British Defence and Aid Fund (BDAF), at Riverside Studios in west London on 24 May 1987. The evening featured performances from Attila the Stockbroker, Jeni Couzyn and E A Markham, and supporters included Carol Ann Duffy, Spike Milligan, Lemn Sissay and Benjamin Zephaniah. The compere was Roger McGough.

Leaflet advertising an afternoon of videos, exhibition and stalls in support of South African women on International Women’s Day in 1987. The afternoon was followed by a gig with post-punk Artery Band. It was organised by Ealing AA Group with sponsorship from the London Borough of Ealing.

Hackney AA Group joined with local community groups to organise a week of activities celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the African National Congress. The week included a meeting at the Turkish Community Centre, a filmshow at the Rio Cinema, culminating in a day of music, dance and poetry at the local leisure centre on 4 July 1987. The week was sponsored by the Race Relations Unit of Hackney Borough Council.